Iron Man gets upgraded

This article was taken from the December 2012
issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in
print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of
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Since Tony Stark tried on his first metal suit nearly 50 years
ago, Marvel Comics' crusading capitalist has evolved from an arms
magnate to a clean-energy pioneer, with more than a hint of Tesla
Motors' Elon
Musk. Then there's Robert Downey Jr's twitchy, turbocharged
take on the character. Now British writer Kieron Gillen is heading
up the flagship Marvel title -- no mean feat considering the
high-profile exposure Iron Man has experienced in
recent years.

"You don't even need to get bitten by a radioactive
spider -- if you put on the suit, you become Iron Man"

Kieron
Gillen

In 2006 work began on Marvel Studios' first Iron Man movie -- the same year Gillen's first comic
book, Phonogram, was published. After two hit movies and a
starring role in Avengers Assemble, Iron Man is
currently Marvel's most bankable star. Gillen, after tackling
X-Men and Thor comics, has been tasked with
rebooting Tony Stark.

So what is it about the charismatic billionaire with the rocket
boots that audiences love? It's partly the accessibility of the
fantasy, according to Gillen. "You don't even need to get bitten by
a radioactive spider -- if you put on the suit, you become Iron
Man." Gillen's run will restart the series at number one, to
encourage new readers to jump on post-Avengers
Assemble.

But with the third in the billion-dollar film franchise on the
way in 2013, is there pressure to keep the character -- and the
battlesuit -- in line with the "Movieverse" Iron Man?

"He's a genius -- a super-inventor," says Gillen. "The character
always has that iconic resonance, so some stories would be wrong
for [Tony Stark], and you don't suggest them. But within that, you
get a worrying amount of freedom."